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	Elk Grove Food Bank Services
	by Steve Caruso
	In the more than three years that I have served as the part-time Executive Director of Elk Grove Community Food Bank Services, there is one question that has been consistently asked by local residents as well as area business and government officials: why do we need a food bank in Elk Grove?
	There is the perception, both from within the Elk Grove region and those on the outside looking in, that the Elk Grove community is a thriving, growing area that attracts families with a better than average income. The streets are clean, the home prices keep escalating, more and more businesses are setting up shop there, and the school district can't build the schools fast enough to keep up with the burgeoning population.
	All true.
	So why in God's name, you might also now be asking, is there a need for a food bank in the midst of so much prosperity?
	The answer, of course, lies in the perception of food banks. Most people figure food banks are for the homeless or those individuals so hopelessly destitute that their last resort is free food. Surely no one in Elk Grove has reached that level, right?
	Mostly true.
	The real answer is that hunger or food insecurity can strike people from all categories on the economic ladder. While the Elk Grove Food Bank sees very few homeless—probably an average of 2-4 per month—what we do see over and over again, day after day, are the "working poor."
	These are people who are employed, but they don't earn enough to last the entire month. Some of them have been laid off from relatively good jobs, and the only alternative to unemployment, if any, is the minimum wage of, at best, $9 or $10 per hour position at a local retail outlet. And, of course, medical benefits for these positions aren't part of the employment package.
	We see many people living on a fixed income, or young single mothers caught in the middle of a most unappealing Catch-22: do I stay home to raise my infant or do I go to work and pay relatively high child-care rates?
	Even those people who've moved into one of the spanking new subdivisions are not immune from possibly needing the services of the food bank. Many of them are stretched thin financially, and an unexpected layoff or a couple of unplanned emergencies could send them reeling. And, suddenly, they find themselves in line at the Elk Grove Food Bank. More people than you want to imagine are only one or two mistakes away from needing that emergency food to make it through the month.
	We are currently seeing 25-percent more people using the Elk Grove Food Bank than last year at this same time. We've also seen a surge in those single moms with infants, as well as large increases across-the-board.
	In addition to serving emergency food and providing emergency clothing needs to schoolchildren and adults through the Elk Grove Clothes Closet, we've taken on the Elk Grove Community Garden as a program in order to teach some families the art of growing their own food and lessening their dependence on us. Construction of the garden, which will be open to anyone in the community, is currently occurring and we expect it to be fully operational by late October or early November.
	We've also recently started a new program entitled "Helping Hand." It's designed to be a free one-on-one counseling and referral service for residents who find themselves in a position where monthly visits to the Food Bank are necessary or regular assistance from the Clothes Closet are required.
	When you stop to seriously consider the issues of hunger or food insecurity (hunger is the actual physical sensation caused by lack of food, while food insecurity tends to be the psychological stress of not knowing if you'll be able to provide for your next meal), the solution really isn't about food. There is no shortage of food in Elk Grove or Sacramento or Northern California—some other problem has caused this person to be unable to purchase the food needed and to, instead, seek emergency assistance from the Food Bank. That problem could be just about anything negative—layoff, medical emergency, illness or even just one or two stupid mistakes.
	"Helping Hand" is our attempt to attack the root of the problem causing the emergency need. Instead of relying solely on emergency measures - food banks, food stamps, etc. - it's time for all of us to begin solving the real problem, and work towards ending hunger and food insecurity once and for all.
	I have to admit that I am a virtual newcomer to this line of thinking. If you had asked my four or more years ago how to solve the issue of hunger (I didn't even know what "food insecurity" was!), I probably would have answered in much the same way most people would: provide more food closets and easier access to food stamps. After three-plus years with Elk Grove Community Food Bank Services, I now know that kind of thinking does not even come close to solving the problem—in fact, it perpetuates it. After all, food closets and food stamps have been in existence for a long time, but the problem isn't getting any better. It indeed almost always comes back to that oft-repeated proverb: give a man a fish, you feed him for a day—teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
	Overall, Elk Grove Community Food Bank Services is moving in the direction so courageously plowed by our neighbors to the north, the Sacramento Food Bank: to offer, in addition to emergency food, a host of programs that address the real needs of people who utilize our food bank. We'd like to see our Clothes Closet open daily, as well as 6-10 community gardens in operation throughout the City of Elk Grove. Programs need to be in place to assist our regular "customers" in getting out of the line. We could also use our own large facility where all of our programs could be housed under one roof.
	The need for emergency food is merely a symptom of a much deeper problem. Whether it's a need for job training or referral, or some training or counseling for new mothers, or counseling or referral in domestic abuse cases, we'd like to be able to offer hands-on help in these areas and others.
	As we often say at the food bank and in the community, the real goal of the Elk Grove Food Bank is to put ourselves out of business.
	So, don't assume that just because a community appears to be flourishing, which it might be, that people aren't hungry or hurting.
	That person in line tomorrow could be your neighbor. Literally.
	Steve Caruso is the Executive Director, Elk Grove Community Food Bank Services.
	The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent those of the Elk Grove Insider or any other entity.
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